Impacts of Population Aging on the Subtypes of Stroke

To the Editor:As the most populous country, China has the largest number of stroke victims in the world. With the aging of population and changing of lifestyles in recent years, incidence and prevalence of stroke are increasing; rank of stroke as a cause of death in disease spectrum is shifting forward; socioeconomic costs of stroke are climbing; and there is no evidence that these trends will change in the near future. In contrast to these emerging problems related to stroke, research—especially epidemiological research—on stroke in the Chinese population is extremely rare. This shortage will become a hindrance for government in making a nationwide reform to the healthcare system in the near future. For this reason, the study by Zhao et al1 is of important reference not only for clinicians, but also for health policy makers.Based on the …